HOSPITABLE HOBART

Japanese Reflections

During our cruise across Bass Straight in the Spirit of Tasmania, DD wandered into the Visitors Centre on board and they told him about this wonderful thing he could buy called an IVenture Card. The Card cost $130 per person and provided substantial discounts on a variety of cruises/tours/activities. There were a few choices and ‘we’ chose the most expensive card in the belief it gave the best value for money. We could not purchase the card on board, but had to wait until we hit land and then purchased our Iventure card from the Visitors Centre in Devonport. Some activities are even free with the card – one of the downsides tho’ is that we had only a limited time in which to utilise our card. In retrospect we wouldn’t purchase one of these cards again as there were a few problems with utilising them as even tho’ we purchased through the Visitors Centre, inevitably on each event, we could not book the cruise/trip/activity thru’ the Visitors Centres, but had to instead, go direct to the providers. There were a few other minor problems with the card, but we have managed to get our money’s worth over the duration. One of the results of purchasing the card, not sure if it is a good one or bad, is that we have found ourselves doing some things we perhaps would not have bothered with if we were not trying to get our maximum benefit. One of these activities was the Hobart Explorer. The tour was worth approximately $34 per head and involved a roughly 3 hour bus tour of Hobart and surrounds.

Opposite our Bus Stop in Hobart

Once again we jumped on a bus at New Norfolk and headed into Hobart in the morning. This time, as we had a little time up our sleeves, we sat at a corner cafe, enjoying a very passable coffee and watched Hobart go past – always a fascinating occupation trying to work out each person’s occupation or lack thereof. So........onwards and upwards, our old fashioned coach (once a tram) was it seemed, very unwell and so they had substituted a very comfortable air-conditioned coach – probably a good thing as it was just a tad chilly that morning.

We had a very, very quietly spoken guide – an Aussie bloke in pre-retirement mode with the usual dry sense of humour that so many Australian men do so well. Shame we couldn’t hear him very well due to his mumbling – obviously practising for driving his wife mad in retirement! The tour took us through old Hobart, our guide pointing out all the points of interest. Certainly Hobart boasts some wonderful historical buildings, some beautiful and some not. First stop for the day was the old Barracks where we jumped (read stumbled) out to stretch our legs and take a few photos of the memorials and old buildings. This was perhaps our first experience of the next stage of our lives when we no longer take our own tours but join a group of age enhanced, muscle depleted older folk on ‘Coach Tours’. I know my mum enjoyed these ‘Tours’, but not sure if I am ready yet. One really old fellow (oh, about 5 years older than us!), seemingly had a compulsion to read everything – his wife sardonically indicated this would mean that every time the bus was ready to go, old Alf would be ‘over there’ reading some script on some notice about something. To make matters worse, he was more than a little deaf and his wife who had her arm in a sling (probably broke it while choking him) was not inclined to get off the bus at all, but simply sat there glaring in his general direction instructing the driver very curtly, to “just blow the horn – he is reading again – just blow it!”

War Memorial - 1 day after ANZAC Day

So once we had Alf back safely on board, off we set for the Cascade Brewery Gardens – quite lovely with all the autumn colours – the old building sitting very grandly at the rear of the gardens. Another ‘leg-stretch’ and this time it was Alf’s missus who kept us waiting as she decided finally get off the bus to visit the amenities, once everyone else was on board. You know I really don’t mind all the waiting, after all we had nowhere else to be, it was just interesting to see how these two were so oblivious to how their behaviour affected the rest of us – not purely a proclivity of the young after all it seems.

Cascade Gardens

Cascade Brewery

Next stop was the old Women’s Gaol – this time it was me who didn’t get off the bus. The ruins of the gaol were very diminished – really only the walls left and they had been pretty well re-constructed. Instead, I stayed on the bus with the driver who regaled me with gruesome stories of the lives of the past inmates. I find that these places do affect me quite profoundly and I don’t always wish to go there. The lives these poor souls lived were abysmal to say the least. The driver did point out however, that a good number of the inmates (those who survived that is) ended up marrying quite well as there was such a dearth of women in the remote colony.

DD Thought It Was Worth Another Look!

Alf’s wife was last back on again as she had discovered a source of Bruny Island Fudge and had gone back to buy some. Oh well, at least she seemed a little happier by then. From the gaol we headed slightly out of Hobart and across the Tasman Bridge to a high vantage point across the Derwent. We were of course, told the story of the Tasman Bridge – most of us do remember the collapse of the bridge of course, but it was still interesting and horrific – especially hearing the story as you are passing over the same place where the bridge collapsed. What we hadn’t heard before tho’, was that the very lucky bloke whose Monaro had been perched oh so precariously on the brink of disaster that day, was the first person to drive across the new bridge, and he drove across in the same Monaro which he still has today! The other thing we learned was that they now stop the traffic when a ship is passing underneath. We have since experienced this in our own travels around Hobart.

Tasman Bridge

So, we stopped at the top of a hill which I’m very much afraid I have forgotten the name of, probably ‘cause I never really heard the name due to the combination of the mumbling of our driver and Alf’s wife, sitting in front of us, continually turning around to regale DD with stories of their caravan trip around Tassie some 30 years ago. JOY!!! From the ‘hill’ we could see a fair way up the Derwent and right out to sea and Bruny Island. The views were remarkable and would have been even better had it not been raining by that time.

From the Lookout Rosney Park

Hobart Bathed in Sunlight - Mt Wellington in the Background

Our drive then took us back across the bridge and to our last stop, The Royal Botanical Gardens. Here we were dropped off at one end and picked up 30 minutes later at the other end. We had a truly lovely wander through part of the gardens which are huge. The gardens seemed more like a park of yore where one would have promenaded to be seen rather than an abundant garden. As we only saw a portion of the gardens, I could be wrong of course. What was really beautiful were the Japanese Gardens there – at any other time of the year they would not have been the same; the colours of the autumn leaves were outstanding reflecting their glory in the still waters.


Beautiful Japanese Gardens


Were there any problems when we all assembled to re-board the bus, hmmmm, “Has anybody seen my wife?” asked Alf, perhaps hoping that nobody had, but “Yes” we had seen her, walking determinedly off to see the Japanese Gardens when the rest of us were about to board the bus. Oh well............doubtless she had a wonderful day.

Floral Beauty

More Bloomin' Flowers

So back on board and back to our starting point – we would have so say we enjoyed our bus trip – it was informative and we did learn a couple of things we most likely would have missed left to our own devices. It was also amusing in its own way with Alf and his wife, who true to form, held everyone else up disembarking from the bus as they had the front seat and Alf, seemingly in a bit of a world of his own, took forever to remove Mrs Alf’s stuff from the shelf above their heads – oblivious to the fact that nobody could get off the bus until he moved out of their way. He was actually a lovely man, just a bit vague – having met Mrs Alf, one can only surmise his state to be one of self-preservation. So, until next time when we will go to Port Arthur, be tolerant and adapt, adapt, adapt. Stephanie.

To Calm Your Mind

PS these photos give you a good insight into Hobart weather - all taken within 3 hours and approx 10ks.

MASTERFUL MONA

Museum of Old and New Art

Isn’t it interesting how some things really polarise people. One of those polarising things appears to be MONA. Before we actually managed to get there we had an enormous amount of advice about the place from an abundance of very differing individuals. Interestingly, the most popular advice was ‘not to bother’ – ‘not worth it’ and ‘gross’. One man actually told us that he found the art there not to be art al all but mere pornography! Many more people told us that whilst the art was not worth seeing, the building was worthy of a visit. Well, we have long believed in seeing for ourselves, so off we went to MONA.

Wooden Tepees at the Rear of MONA

We could have gone to Hobart and caught yet another catamaran back up the Derwent to MONA, but seeing as it is situated roughly half way between New Norfolk and the city we decided instead to simply drive there. MONA is an interesting array of buildings perched on a promontory of land on a broad stretch of the Derwent River. It is surrounded on the land-side by vineyards, golden at this time of the year, and on its remaining 3 sides by the river. The buildings appear to consist of accommodation, conference facilities, a theatre and of course the Art Gallery itself. The grounds contain a number of quirky pieces, including wooden tepees, a wrought iron concrete truck and of all things, a tennis court. The buildings are built from unusual materials including what appears rusty iron plate, sat at odd angles, uncomfortable to the eye. The entry to the gallery itself is mirrored and once again challenges the eyes and optical perceptions.

Unusual Building Materials Set at Odd Angles

Once inside you disappear into a labyrinth of limestone passages, tunnels and caves, all seemingly dug out of the land, creating a living theatre for the art. The gallery is essentially set out on three levels give or take a few odd angles and ramps, but unlike the usual building the 3 levels do not rise up into the air, but instead are sunk deep into the earth.

Mirrored Entrance to the Gallery Tricks The Eyes

The walls are largely exposed limestone rock – impressive and quite awesome in appearance. The art is ....................different. Very different! I must confess that in general it was not my cup of tea, but it was interesting to say the least. Much of it was confronting dealing with subjects generally left out of conventional art galleries – sex, death, and other diseases would be the best way to describe it perhaps. I didn’t ‘love it’ but I did find it interesting and some of it very quirky. The gallery utilises every surface and space as grist for the mill and odd things popped up around us as we wandered, fascinated, through those dark passages. Technology was not left out of the art on display and an amazing waterfall which dropped gem like water drops in the form of words was quite amazing and mesmerizing. I was quite surprised that DD also enjoyed his MONA experience. It is good to see a venue where the more alternative artist can confidently display their work.

Golden Vineyards Stretching Away Towards The Ever Present Hills

The place attracts a wide variety of people and there were a fair number of what could be loosely described as ‘pretentious arty- farty types’ wandering around looking superior and pontificating loudly. The people were part of the experience. All in all we really enjoyed our visit, and would suggest you go and find out for yourself what all the hue and cry is about.

Until our next encounter, be open and fair minded. Stephanie.

BOUNTIFUL BRUNY ISLAND

Mysterious Tunnels To The Other Side

We had planned on taking the van across on the ferry to Bruny Island but somewhere along the way we changed our minds and decided to take the Adventure Tour to Bruny and then at a slightly later date, take the Cruiser across on the ferry and simply do a ‘drive around’. We have yet to do the drive around, but we have done the Bruny Island Adventure Tour. Despite the fairly high cost of around $190 per head we thoroughly enjoyed our day and would happily recommend it to anyone visiting Tasmania.

Leaving the Hobart Wharf Early in the Morn

We caught the bus to Hobart early in the morning. Very early in fact, we boarded the bus at 6.50am on a cold and frosty New Norfolk morning. These buses have been an absolute revelation. The drivers are wonderfully old fashioned, polite, helpful and full of good advice. Something sadly you just don’t see enough of at home anymore. One of these days I will do a blog, just about Tassie and Tasmanians in general, in brief and just for now though, suffice to say ‘old fashioned values’ still apply down here and people are generally very friendly. So..............we caught the bus, and then listened delightedly as everyone on the bus proceeded to talk to everyone else, including us. Very country! Very pleasant! Due to the fact that the trip in to Hobart is a fairly long one, the commuter buses are more like coaches and quite comfy. We arrived in a still sleepy Hobart just before 8 and took ourselves down to the waterfront to sign in for our cruise.

Giant Kelp Forrests alongside Dark Tunnels and Underwater Caves

The first thing they did was hand us a fairly scary piece of paper where we pretty much had to sign our lives away. Frankly, we thought they should do this when they sell you the ticket, not just before you board the boat. Basically the papers declared that we had no major medical defects and that we would not hold them responsible if we died or became mortally injured during the day’s adventures. Great!!! Nothing like signing that sort of thing just before boarding a boat – doesn’t exactly imbue you with confidence. Of course, all these companies are doing this these days in order to try to avoid any litigation in the event of misadventure. Personally, I rather doubt these papers would hold water in a court of law. Perhaps their true purpose is to act as deterrents to some potential and or ‘professional’ litigants.

The second thing they did was to hand out a great big raincoat to everyone. Not just any raincoat, but these were more like big rainproof wet- weather great-coats. Most had seen better days, but they were warm and pretty weather proof. This was a fair indication that they expected us to get wet before the day was out.


Magnificent and Ancient Rocky Cliffs


The first stage of our adventure was a sedate 45 minute cruise on the Derwent Estuary and D’Entrecasteau to Bruny Island in one of Tasmania’s wonderful big catamarans. We have since been told that these cats are built on the Derwent just north of Hobart and sell for around $1m per metre. We have seen them before at Strahan and sitting at the dock in Hobart ready for cruising up the Derwent to MONA. It would appear that their main market is Tasmania’s own tourist industry! The cruise to Bruny was pleasant albeit a little too cold and windy to get outdoors to take photos. DD, being the intrepid bloke that he is, did go out to the stern and take a couple of shots of Hobart Harbour disappearing in our wake, but even he didn’t brave the cold conditions for long. I made the mistake of heading out to the bow to take a shot or two from there, but was very quickly blown back inside the well appointed dry and warm interior of the cat.

Crossing the Narrow Spit

We arrived promptly at Bruny and were bundled onto a couple of small coaches for a brief bus tour of part of the island. We drove through fairly dry farm land, over the narrow spit that joins the north to the south of the island and into heavily forested hilly country. The north island has minimal annual rain fall, while the south part of the island has one of the wettest climates in Tasmania – odd, considering their very close proximity to each other! Just by the by Bruny is close on 100 kilometres long – making it a substantial island indeed. One the way we stopped and picked up some fresh oysters to go with our lunch, and again to pick up some local cheeses to add to our repast. Eventually we pulled up alongside a small jetty where a very natty vessel awaited us. It is described in the literature as a ‘state of the art coastal expedition vessel’. We were told by the doting skipper about the horsepower of the engines and all the sort of stuff that you blokes would find interesting. Oh hang on, DD is telling me it had no less than 4 V8 outboards. Suffice to say, it had big engines and was, due to its design, able to get in very close to the rocky and dangerous shore-line. The rear of the vessel was under cover whilst the front half was open to the elements. This was the ‘adventure’ part of the deal.


Close in to the Rocks


The ‘adventure’ boat was a reasonable size and accommodated us all quite well. We were technically supposed to strap ourselves in, but this didn’t seem to last for very long as we constantly stopped to take photos of the amazing coastline. We were fairly blessed as although we did have some rain (which arrived like small ice bullets), the swell that day was only around one and a half metres. This meant a reasonably smooth ride, or so we were told. I guess all these things are relative, and I suppose, relative to say a 6 metre swell, the ride was smooth. For those of us unused to such experiences tho’, smooth was perhaps a slightly off-beat way to describe the journey. It was a lot of fun tho’ and not so rough as to be scary or to make folk sea-sick. It was just very hard to stand and take a decent photo without lurching into the back or lap of some unsuspecting passenger. We did lose quite a few hats and caps with the strong winds that blew up while we were at sea. The weather whilst not bad, was considerably worse than they had forecast.

Sensational Formations

We spent around 2 and a half hours out in the adventure boat and in that time saw some stunning rocky coastal formations and cliffs. Ancient rock formations formed formidable cliffs and sheer rock walls along the primitive coastline. Many times we were presented with rocky arches through which we could see the restive ocean on the other side. At one place we stopped to see the ocean ‘breathing’ – this is a spectacular phenomenon where underwater caves capture the surging waves and spew out vast quantities of froth and foam high into the salty air. Many sea-birds graced the skies around us, including spectacular albatross. We also were up close and personal with a colony of beautiful fur seals and some rare flying penguins. We had quite good commentary for both cruises and the young fella conducting the commentary vowed that they were flying penguins so who am I to dispute his obviously greater knowledge. Hmmmm.

Colony of 'Flying Penguins'

Finally we were taken back to the jetty to disembark, cold but happy after our adventure. From there, back in the coaches to our luncheon destination, where we had a very acceptable lunch of cold frittata, damper, salad and samples of fresh Bruny oysters, local cheeses and local fudge. Not too shabby at all; from there, back on the coaches, back to the cat and a pleasant and warmer cruise back into Hobart.

About as Far South as Australia Goes

If we had any criticism at all of the day it was one we would make of many of these cruises/tours. Once they have you on the homeward track, they tend to forget about you. The young fellow who was doing the commentary became engrossed in conversation with his mate and didn’t even bid his passengers good-bye or thank us for our attendance – this in turn made it difficult for us to thank him as he was not available. It just felt unfinished and a little un-professional. I have to say that when you are spending pretty much $400 for the day, you do expect a reasonably high level of service – they let themselves down at the end. Even on the adventure boat, our guide was more interested in talking to the skipper than to his guests. The lunch also could have been done better as we guests were pretty much left to our own devices and the service etc was basic. The trip was good and was worth doing, but lacked a bit of polish – certainly just re-reading the brochure just now, I was amused at the difference between the amazing events and food described therein compared with the very enjoyable but not quite so glamorous day we experienced.

Mates Just Lazing Around

When we disembarked at around 3.40 we were able to stroll up to our bus stop in good time for the bus home. It was a longish day and due to the nature of the adventure boat we were not able to get our usual quality of photos, but it was good nevertheless. We are looking forward to our ‘drive around’ Bruny in Zed when we will definitely reacquaint ourselves with those delectable Bruny oysters. We have been told we can pick them up for around $8 per dozen and trust me, they are worth it. Until our next adventure stay centred and enjoy clear sailing! Stephanie.


Back Across the Spit



Heading Home

PS  Sorry about the quality of the pics this time - hard to get a clear shot without a random boat or body part getting involved.

NOSTALGIC NEW NORFOLK (3)

Peaceful River at Snug

The Purple Peril

Well, I think I have just proven to myself that one cannot efficiently type when wearing mittens. Yep, we are now up at the Eagles Nest and it is very crisp indeed. Before I regale you with all the latest adventures however, I have some catching up to do. We have been quite busy of late, taking tours and exploring Hobart and surrounds. I will fill you in progressively on all those things, but first, let me tell you about the day we went to The Mountain.

When we last stayed with our mad friend Lee, she decided we needed to be acquainted with the close surrounds and with this in mind she piled us all unwitting into her somewhat dubious looking Rav 4 – initially DD in the front passenger seat, moi in the back passenger seat, and Daisy Bates the beautiful gentle old Border Collie in the rear compartment – and off we went. Well, after travelling for so long in Zed, our lovely Silver Cruiser, the first thing I noticed was that my very ample bottom seemed to be oh, say 6 inches off the ground! The second thing I noticed was that The Purple Peril (Rav 4) was not in particularly good nick, and seemed to have more rattles and bangs than a bunch of babies in a tin nursery. A couple of other things very quickly became apparent, poor old Daisy was sharing her rear compartment with an abundance of bottles and other stuff which was destined for the tip – Daisy and the assorted detritus all bumped and surfed along the way in a way that was both musical (the bottles clinking and Daisy whining) and alarming. The most alarming point of interest however, was the cavalier way our driver, Lee, was treating the narrow, steep and gravel roads which she cheerfully announced led the back way to Mount Wellington. Oh joy, we were travelling headlong to catastrophe! I’m sure in retrospect that it wasn’t half as bad as it seemed at the time, but back then it seemed that Lee was practising for a very competitive Hill Climb Event and was trying for her best time yet. She certainly seemed to attack those gravel roads, hairpin bends, tight corners, steep inclines, skinny roads skimming alongside sheer drops with vigour and imagination. We slid and bounced our way along the adventurous tracks. It seemed too that Lee was at war with every other driver on that track and if we were to believe our ears, all the other road users that day were either of illegitimate birth or foreign masturbators or occasionally both. Well, it seems, despite our concerns and the dubious quality of our fellow road users, we did arrive at the top of the mountain intact. I have to say my opinion did at least briefly concur with Lees’ when one of our fellow road users popped out of her car (this was the driver) wearing a pink tutu and a silver tinsel wig. This would have been perhaps not quite so unnerving had it not been for the fact that this appeared to be normal for this diminutive person, who I initially took to be a child.


Extensive Views  from Mt Wellington Across Hobart Waters



Through The Smoke Haze


We were fortunate to have a relatively clear day, and were able to enjoy the amazing views from the peak of the mountain. There was no snow that day but there was still quite a bit of residual smoke from all the bush fires. It was predictably cold – we had been warned by many that one needs copious layers of clothing when visiting the mountain – the little breeze up there was totally lazy and cut right through clothing, skin, fat layers and bit right into the bone.


Looking Down on The Tasman Bridge


When it was time to get back into The Purple Peril, I lost all interest in being polite and jumped into the front seat with Lee – leaving The Bloke to experience the joys of the back seat. I think from subsequent discussions, he ‘enjoyed’ the experience just about as much as me. From Mt Wellington, we were taken on a tour that first touched on the tip – many things in Tassie are not what we are used to, and because Lee lives slightly off the beaten track road, she does not have any rubbish pick up – not only do they not collect her rubbish, but they charge her $9 per bag to deposit it at the tip and then have the effrontery to charge her almost $100 per annum for the privilege. It seems that they pay a huge amount down here for their electricity too – amazing considering the amount of hydro-power produced here. Perhaps it is not Shangrila after all.

Snug Beach

Of course, like most blokes, DD loved the tip and could see all the wonderful stuff an enterprising bloke could make use of. From there Lee took us for a little tour which took in firstly the pretty little town of Snug and then Kettering where the ferry leaves for Bruny Island. The entire area was picturesque and we stopped for a very good coffee at the ferry terminal come information centre at Kettering where we watched the ferry load up with cars, trucks and caravans for its brief journey across to Bruny.

The Bruny Island Ferry

A pleasant day was had by all, including Daisy who availed herself of the opportunity for a swim when we hopped out at Snug to stretch our legs, and despite being scared out of our collective wits we were grateful to Lee for taking us out and showing us the sights.

Until next time, love a lot and live a little. Stephanie.

NOSTALGIC NEW NORFOLK (2)

Early Morning on the Derwent

The Flight Of The Peking Ducks

Yes, well one of the reasons we are here in Tasmania is to experience a cooler climate. We can already tick that box – mind you I’m sure Tassie has some much colder weather to throw our way yet. Still, we are experiencing overnight temps close to zero and daytime temps that do not make it to 20 degrees and it’s only April! I actually am enjoying the cooler weather but paradoxically missing the sunshine. I like the cool weather but what I really love is those clear, crisp autumn days at home where the sun shines down on us and the air sparkles like champagne. We did actually have one of those beautiful days a couple of days back, but I have to say those days seem a rarity. Most of the time, so far at least, the days are grey. Clouds hug the hill tops and thick white mist crouches in the valleys. A pale and insipid sun peeks sporadically through the greyness promising warmth but not delivering. To enhance the feeling of gloom, smoke left over from the bushfires mixes with the low clouds and creates a spectral mist everywhere – making everything seem slightly fuzzy around the edges. Oh, perhaps that’s just my failing eyesight!

Rural Contrasts

In my last blog I mentioned our friend Lee (she). Now Lee (she) has a beautiful daughter who currently works and lives in Perth. As we were planning on visiting with Lee (she) for a little while, she (Lee) has asked if we would like to House Sit while she (Lee) visits the beautiful daughter in Perth for a couple of weeks. Well – what a wonderful idea! We agreed to go and visit Lee to see what the drive-way and parking situation would be like for our van and so a date was set for a visit. She (Lee) lives in Kingston, high up in the hills towards Mt Wellington. DD bravely drove through the Hobart traffic (about half as bad as Perth traffic) to take us to Kingston. We managed to find our way to the gravel roads that lead into Lee’s place and then proceeded to ‘hill climb’ our way to the home. The roads are gravel, narrow, steep and pot-holed, but DD is confident we will manage to get Jezabelle into Lee’s driveway. I hope the bloke is right! As there is a circular drive we should be able to exit OK too.

The house is a cedar style home nestled into the hill-side and boasts some delightful views through the heavily wooded mountainside and across the Hobart waters. She (Lee) is, like me, an animal nut and has an abundance of wildlife she watches out for from her wooden bower. Numerous Pademelons hop up towards dusk to see what goodies they might score from Lee’s vegetable garden and at night a few possums wander around looking for titbits. She (Lee) tells me there are also a family of owls who roost in the surrounding trees at night, serenading her with their mellow hoots.

Derwent at Rest

She (Lee) also has a beautiful and sensitive elderly border collie, Daisy and a rambunctious young Maine Coon cat, Bugsy. Did I mention in my last blog, that she (Lee) is manic, frenetic and somewhat nutty? Good, saves me explaining that a second time. During our first visit, she (Lee) made us incredibly welcome (something for which I shall be eternally grateful) and proceeded to try to give us her entire library (considerable) and an array of homemade relishes and sauces to take away with us. The library of course, was just a loan, but there are only so many books one can fit in a caravan. She (Lee) is a keen gardener and had an abundance of tomatoes which she had been bravely attempting to bottle into sauces and relishes. She (Lee) seemed to be awash in the stuff. I must say it is all delicious too!

She (Lee) was disappointed when we refused her hospitable invitation to stay for dinner. She had already made us lunch. At her insistence (we didn’t need much pushing) we agreed to return a week later and stay a couple of nights, thus getting a feel for the critters and the house before taking on the responsibility of house-sitting. The next week saw us, minus van, once again taking the ‘hill climb’ to the little house in the hill. This time I was able to reciprocate a little by taking a few odds and sods with us to try and balance Lee’s incredible generosity. It is somewhat like taking Ice to the Eskimos mind you. There seems to be nothing really that she (Lee) needs.

Morning Diamonds

During our first visit, when she (Lee) was inviting us to come and stay with her, it evolved that I had never tasted Peking Duck, and that DD remembered fondly Lee’s preparation of that succulent dish in his somewhat misspent youth. I have since learnt not to even hint at something you would like in Lee’s presence as she will then go out of her way to make sure you have your heart’s desire. She (Lee) immediately promised to make preparations for Peking Duck on our return. In the interim period, between visits, we were regaled, via email, of the exploits of the two unfortunate birds who were to grace our plates later in the week. These poor plucked creatures, had to be soaked in vodka (poor babies) and then hung to dry for a couple of days. Hanging vodka soaked plucked and pinked ducks is no easy feat when one has a mischievous young cat whose legs are permanently hollow, a foxy old collie and swarms of wasps.

We received emails describing swarms of wasps streaming after the pink and plucked ducks followed by the exploits of an eager young cat who obviously considered these pink treats would suit his tummy very well.

By the time we arrived for our two day visit the ducks were just about to be placed in the oven away from the predations of drunken wasps and anxious cats. In due course, despite what seemed to be domestic chaos, the ducks arrived on our plates with all the traditional accompaniments and we and our fellow guests were treated to a wonderful ducky treat. I am such a terrible old hypocrite – I really love ducks – they are such beautiful creatures and the sight of ducks swimming placidly about on the water always warms my heart, and yet, and yet, I can sit down and consume duck and thoroughly enjoy the experience. Oh the shame!

Daisy Peeking Wistfully at the Peking

She (Lee) absolutely blitzed the ducks – they were amazing and delicious – then, bless me, she produced the most incredible Sticky Date Pudding which she served with home- made liquorice ice-cream and dollops of cream. Oh wow! Needless to say we all consumed way too much food and some of us, who you ask, ‘why not me’ she said, consumed a wee bit too much of the liquid refreshments as well.

Now we come to the flight of the Peking Ducks – we all sorted out dishes and the general residual chaos that emanates from a night like this, but at the end of the night we still had two not just plucked, but pretty well...................................ducks to dispose of – well the frames of the ducks at least. Now, I did mention that she (Lee) has a somewhat flimsy hold on sanity– yes, I do believe I did – so I was not too surprised when at the end of a brilliant evening, she (Lee) decided that the ducks deserved to be set free to fly off to whatever home they had come from. To this end, she (Lee) cast the poor denuded creatures, now minus not only their feathers but also their pretty pink flesh out into the dark night skies, hoping against hope that they would despite all their sad depletions, fly to freedom once again.

Reluctant Sunshine on the Derwent

It would appear that it was I, not she (Lee) who was not quite sane as in the morning, when we peered somewhat anxiously over the balcony where the freedom flight had taken place, there were no ducks to be seen! They had obviously taken their opportunity and flown away, featherless and fleshless, back to their home. As there are no carnivorous critters living in Lee’s back yard and both the Daisy the Dog and Bugsy the Cat had been confined to quarters overnight, we can only conclude the ducks made a break for freedom. Now I feel better about consuming the poor creatures as it seems I was able enjoy my repast whilst not impinging on the welfare of the ducks. Amazing!

We had an wonderful two days visiting with Lee and are looking forward to spending another couple of days with her before house-sitting on the 7th May for a couple of weeks.

The only down note about all of this was DD losing his wallet. On the way to stay with Lee, we stopped off to grab a few things to take with us (the ice to Eskimo stuff) and then as we had not stopped to eat lunch, decided to be very naughty and stop in at Mackas for a quick bite. Yes, I know, we should never have gone there, and everything that happened subsequently was very much our own fault. We learned this bad habit after mum passed away last year. The Funeral Directors were right next door to a Mackas and we went there for a fortifying coffee one day. They do have excellent coffee! It was a sad day indeed, as in the 10 plus years we had been together, we had never been to a McDonalds store – until last August. Whilst there we thought we would try their Angus Burger – bad mistake! They are actually nice! Since then, we have from time to time repeated our crime and gone again into the Golden Arches for a happy but very guilty meal. This day, the same thing happened and as we were walking back to the car after our meal, DD noticed he did not have his wallet. We could find it nowhere and DD rushed off to the bank to cancel all the cards while I retraced our steps trying in vain to locate the lost wallet. There is incidentally a very important lesson to impart here. Under no circumstances get behind the wheel of a car when you have just lost your wallet and the ramifications of the loss are still racing through your head. My very sensible and grounded bloke nearly managed to get us killed or at least severely maimed in the first few moments after the loss had become apparent. Even DD with his Very Good Brain did a minor panic during that drive to the bank.


Glorious Autumn


Of course, it was my fault. I had insisted that DD change his jumper before leaving to visit Lee – I had shockingly insisted that he wear something clean and not quite so moth-eaten as his usual gear. What a wicked woman! It turns out that the pockets in the fresh jacket are not very spacious and THAT is why said wallet jumped out of his pocket. As I said, My Fault – OK – Whatever! What probably was my fault was that I did go back and check where we had been sitting at McDonalds and saw nothing. I spoke to the other people in the cafe and the staff, but nothing.

When we told Lee about the loss, she was confident we would never see the wallet or its contents ever again. She (Lee) assured us in dark tones that the folk in New Norfolk are directly descended from the bad hombres who were imprisoned on Norfolk Island (true story actually) and as such would not have even let the wallet touch the ground before scooping it up and utilising the contents for their own nefarious purposes. The fact that DD did think he might have dropped it on the ground outside the local TAB added somewhat to that sad belief. I, having one of these nefarious convicts in my own antecedents, felt a little wounded by her inferences of inherited impurities.

DD has always been a super lucky cuss (he has me doesn’t he?) and later that afternoon he received a call from the McDonalds cafe – the wallet had been handed in after my visit! When we finally collected it 2 days later it was completely intact – even down to the couple of hundred dollars inside it. As I said, very, very lucky! In the meantime we had cancelled our Visa cards and arranged for my son Brett to pay DD’s driver’s license which had fortuitously arrived in the mail at home the previous day. We have since received the new cards in the mail and all is back to normal. Lucky, lucky man! The people of New Norfolk can hold their heads high as they are obviously amongst the most honest folk on the planet (along with yours truly of course). Full marks too to the young manager at McDonalds as he did all the right things, down to putting the wallet in the safe for us until we could collect it.

Afternoon Delight

So our visit to Lee was eventful and enjoyable. DD has his wallet back and all is well with the world. I have to say a positive word or two about my bloke here too. My granny once wrote in my autograph book “A Man worthwhile is one who can smile when everything’s gone all wrong” – DD is just such a bloke. He can get very odd indeed over small stuff, but when a major like this happens, he is calm itself (once the Visa has been cancelled that is) and even managed to remain quite cheerful; he didn’t really blame me, well, not much anyway and he kept his equilibrium through the whole experience. Priceless!

We are now at the time of school holidays again and so have decided to stay in this lovely caravan park until the 5th May when we will tow Jezzy up the ‘hill-climb’ to stay with Lee. I will keep blogging between now and then however, as we still have a couple of escapades I have not filled you in on, and we plan on taking a few more excursions from here as well.

Stay tuned as I come back to regale you with the horrific story of the bum-numbing, nerve tingling near death excursion to the peak of Mt Wellington and the case of the slavering camels. Until next time, laugh well and fly free – Steph.

Priceless

NOSTALGIC NEW NORFOLK (1)

Reflections of Autum - New Norfolk on the Derwent

(Bountiful Bonorong & Barney the Runaway Wombat)

Hello! Well you have had a bit of a break from my ramblings, now you have to pay! Firstly, thank you so much for the encouragement and acknowledgements I received following my last somewhat pathetic request for a response. It was childish of me but I was extremely gratified by all the wonderful emails I received. I shall not ask again – well not soon anyway.

Now, on to more important things – what have we been up to since my last blog? Perhaps the reason I haven’t blogged is that we haven’t really been on the move, even though we have been quite busy. We moved from the beautiful Mt Field National Park to the picturesque and historical town of New Norfolk – that was a couple of weeks ago and guess what, we are still in New Norfolk!

Perhaps we were just ready for a bit of a break, or perhaps it is the sheer comfort of this Caravan Park, whatever the reason, we are more than happy to stay here for a little bit. We have not been idle during our stay here however, and have visited a few spots readily accessible from here.



Cloud Reflections

 The first of these was Bonorong Wildlife Park – this was actually quite by accident. Our map showed a Wildlife Reserve at Bagdad and that was what we set out to find, find it we did but from our perspective at least, it was a total non event. We found a gate – the gate had a collection box which asked for a $2 coin – we duly inserted coin and drove in, closing the gate behind us, and found................absolutely nothing! Well, there was a bit of a shelter and some seats and a map giving directions – I suppose we should have looked at the map.....but..............there are some days when the navigator doesn’t dare make those sort of suggestions to a somewhat disgruntled driver...............that was one of those days! We simply sat in our 4 wheeled armchair and watched through the windows in bemused silence as the seemingly virgin bush looked back in at us. Hmmm, I believe this was just what it said it was, a wildlife RESERVE!!!! Not a wildlife park. The idea was to get out and walk through the virgin bush and get up close and personal with the real thing. Yep, well that didn’t happen. We simply drove through the available road space and back thru’ the gate, shutting it firmly behind us. Why the place was specially noted on the map is beyond us, but hey, it was a really pretty drive and the day was beautiful with soft blue skies scattered liberally with fluffy mauve clouds echoed by deep purple cloud shadows across the gilded hills and limpid waterways.

We took a side-street to drive through the pretty little town of Kempton – a small farming town doing a good impersonation of my idea of a tiny English village. Along the way we stopped and had some fairly typical road-side fare (truckie style) at a servo which advertised ‘Mood Food’ – the name appealed, but the food was not really all that wonderful – adequate, but really the epitome of all servo food the country over, albeit plentiful. Sitting outside the servo eating our deep fried fare was quite surreal however, overlooking sculptured golden hills dotted with bleating sheep.


Beautiful Old Church at Kempton



Our Luncheon Companions


On the way home we stumbled over a great wildlife park near Brighton. The park is called Bonorong. As we had set out to see a wildlife park we decided to drop in. We were still hunting the elusive Barney at that stage. What? I haven’t told you about Barney? How very remiss of me. Sorry! Right, well we have a mate living down here in Tassie and she (Lee) had been guiding us from afar, recommending various venues and sights to see. Mt Field was one of the areas she had recommended. Now, I had only met Lee once, and that had been at Trent’s wedding (Trent is DD’s son) and as that had been for me a somewhat frenetic and nervous time, I didn’t have very clear memories of Lee. I did remember a vivacious and happy individual, but it hadn’t really registered that she (Lee) was actually at least moderately insane.

Sorry, but this story does require a little explanation. Now I was a little nervous of she (Lee) as she had been and still is a good friend of DD’s ex, and I was not quite sure of my welcome etc,. Having since met she (Lee) I can now tell you that she is quite mad, and absolutely wonderful –a great gal who I hope I can now consider a friend. So this is all background stuff. Anyway, she (Lee) had recommended not only Mt Field but also a wildlife park there called ‘Something Wild’. The main attraction there, being a young wombat called Barney. What I hadn’t understood about Lee was her compulsion for ‘finding out’. We looked and looked for ‘Something Wild’ all to no avail – finally discovering it had, like so many businesses in Tassie, closed its doors. Well – disaster! What happened to Barney? Lee had told us in her emails about Barney the Wombat – Barney was brought up at the park and had failed the freedom test. It seems they had tried to repatriate Barney to the bush, but he refused to go, resorting even to swimming the swiftly flowing river to come back home to the park. Lee was devastated as she had been a huge fan of Barneys’. She was understandably worried about the little fella.

Could This Be Barney?

There ensued from here a manic game of ‘Where’s Barney’ – we were firmly told in no uncertain terms that we had to find the delinquent wombat. Ever tried to find a needle in a haystack? Same thing! She (Lee) was so insistent we dare not fail in our endeavours. We had been told by a lady in the know that all the animals from the shelter had been passed on to other wildlife institutions – we thought Bagdad would have been a likely spot and that was the main reason for our journey there.

Needless to say, our search at Bagdad was fruitless. We walked thru’ the entrance to Bonorong however, and asked the nice young man at the counter about the animals from ‘Something Wild’ and he advised us that they had all been repatriated to the bush. When we told him about the aberrant Wombat and his refusal to ‘go native’ he recognised the story and was able to tell us, finally, that Barney is alive and well and living the life of Reilly with a bloke who loves him. Thank Goodness For That – finally a happy ending to the Barney saga.

So...Bonorong is a very good and well run Wildlife Park and I would strongly recommend it for those of you who wish to see our native animals in a semi natural environment. They had a good number of Tassie Devils there along with some white wallabies, large roos and various birds. I was horrified to see two magpies in a cage – they did have a bit of a sad story having been hand reared and then handed in as their carer had no license to keep them. Not knowing the full story I suppose I should keep my criticisms in check, but really! Maggies in cages – horrid thought I think. I am really missing my maggies – we see so few here. In fact, we really see very few native birds here full stop. Certainly though, there are numerous blackbirds and sparrows. We do see the odd Currawong, Kookaburra, Wren and parrot. There are copious numbers of the Tasmanian Forrest Raven and abundant Banded Lapwings, but sadly very few magpies. I really am pathetic, as I become very animated and excited when I glimpse the odd magpie along the way. Perhaps the east coast will be different. One of the favourite residents at the park was an Old Man Kangaroo – much like one we had at Bullsbrook. This old bloke had taken up residence in the middle of the lawn and was not about to move for anyone. One of the rangers there told us he seemed to get more food than anyone else as he always managed to get the sympathy vote. We were told he had been there from a young Joey.

Life is Tough Sometimes

A Rare White Wallaby

It would seem that I have a bit too much to tell you in one go, so I’ll be kind and split this into a couple of issues. I will tell you though, before I go, that this is a great little Caravan Park. We are right on the banks of the Derwent River, the bays are huge and generally drive through, the amenities are not new, but very sound and clean, the whole area is well grassed and the place is pet friendly. The rates here are also very good, particularly if you are staying for a week or more. The park is council owned and has had the same very obliging and amenable manager for some 6 years. The park is pretty well protected from strong winds as it sits down behind rocky walls. The town of New Norfolk is historic and has many, many historical and somewhat quaint buildings. The European influence here is very strong and with advent of cooler weather the autumnal colours of the trees along the river bank are getting to be quite exceptional. The town is not huge but does boast a Woolies for grocery shopping and an absolute abundance of antique shops – none of which we have been into. I figure it is best not to be tempted! After all, we ARE in a caravan.

Just Dont Disturb Me With All That Raking!

So until next time when we will talk about the flight of the Peking Ducks – be kind to each other and never give up. Steph.

It's OK Guys, Ducks, not Geese!